A lifelong relationship is what sustains us

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 31/12/2018 (2650 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

If you had asked me while I was a Free Press paperboy what it took to become a newspaper editor, I probably would have looked to the Daily Bugle’s J. Jonah Jameson for clues.

As an avid fan of the old Spider-Man cartoon series, I would have guessed all you needed to do was chew on a cigar, slam your fist on the desk and routinely yell “Parker” across the newsroom to chew out a young crusading journalist.

While I never got into cigars, I do a pretty good job at the fist-pounding and yelling across the newsroom. But one thing I never imagined I would need to do in this job was dig deep into what’s happening in the newspaper industry in order to enable our newsroom to continue producing the journalism this community needs.

All of which takes me to the latest report that was part of my holiday reading: Nurturing Value for News Consumers.

I’m pretty sure none of you is going to pick up the latest offering from INMA’s research fellow at Oxford and Harvard, so there’s no need for a spoiler alert atop what is my seventh annual New Year’s message to readers. One of the truths Grzegorz Piechota uncovered that will influence the future revenue and relevancy journey for newspapers such as the Free Press is an understanding of the relationship economy. Whether we like it or not, we are competing against the likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime and Spotify. And why those digital content libraries are winning is because they are remarkably good at retaining subscribers.

“Retention — not acquisition — is the win,” Piechota writes. “Acquiring a new customer is five to 25 times more expensive than retaining an existing one. Thus, the importance of nurturing your current customer base.”

In the case of the Free Press, the importance of our current customer base has never been clearer as reader revenue — our single revenue line — is now 10 points greater than what we earn from advertisers. And that means an editor also has to become a nurturer.

“Relationships that aren’t nurtured fall apart,” Piechota notes. “That truth is the same in your home and at your news media company. A monthly subscription is nice. A lifelong relationship is what sustains us.”

Fortunately, the Free Press began to focus on that relationship two years ago, when we started to talk about our readers as members, rather than customers.

We began reporting directly to them by way of our quarterly Insiders Edition. We invited them to celebrate the importance newspapers play in our country with a free night at the movies that included a post-film forum on the state of journalism. We’ve rewarded them with free tickets to Winnipeg Jets games, where we not only talk hockey but also get feedback on how we are serving our readers. And early in the new year, we will be giving our readers an intimate look at our newsroom while delivering a heartfelt thank you from a wide cross-section of staff to those that fund our journalism.

When I review what we did in 2018 to help retain readers and strengthen that relationship, our newsroom takes pride at introducing a new way to present breaking news online and the debut of our digital evening news magazine, Above the Fold. We also added to our suite of newsletters, which is crucial to growing a paid digital audience. And we were the only Canadian media outlet to be recognized by Editor & Publisher, winning three of the five nominations. Being lauded with the likes of the Boston Globe, CNN and NBC speaks volumes about what we are accomplishing in the digital space.

On the print side, we introduced two new sections that have earned praise from our readers and helped improve the value proposition of our weekend edition. The Passages cover story kicked off with us righting some historical wrongs in terms of how we ignored the accomplishments of women, while the Weekend Review allows us to shine a spotlight on the critical writing we do so well.

On both platforms, we consistently have set the agenda, provided depth and context that other media can’t or won’t and made the case for the important role newspapers can and should play in a community. Plus, we are doing it all for just slightly more than the $13.99 Netflix is now charging for its monthly subscription — which never includes any coverage from city hall or the Manitoba legislature.

Of course, there is more to do. And more that will be done. Fortunately, the relationship we have with you as a paid reader will help make it possible in 2019.

Happy New Year!

Paul Samyn is the Free Press editor.

paul.samyn@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @paulsamyn